MEDIA ADVISORY: “Don’t be a Grinch and steal our Christmas” front-line hospital staff call out HHS staff on millions of dollars in retro pay owed CUPE 7800 media conference Monday 1 p.m. at the General site

Event Information

Begins: 12 December 2022 @ 1:00 P.M.
Location: Hamilton, ON

HAMILTON, ON –/COMMUNITYWIRE/– 4600 front-line Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) staff are owed millions of dollars in retroactive wages on their paycheques before the end of 2022. But even though an arbitrated award provides that the retro money must be paid prior to December 25, 2022, HHS says that hospital staff who are members of CUPE 7800 won’t be getting those wages in time for the Christmas holiday.

The hospital central award between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Hospital Association  (OHA) and its participating hospitals including HHS, was released early in November. Dozens of other Ontario hospitals where CUPE represents members have complied with the Christmas retro payment deadline.

“We think HHS should be doing better to meet the retro pay deadline. Inflation is eating away at hospital workers’ modest wages, and this is money rightly owed 4600 of HHS’ staff who’ve all worked diligently in a pandemic. These are the same dedicated workers who have endured a cut in pay under a provincial wage cap law that was just deemed unconstitutional by the court,” says CUPE 7800 president, Jillian Watt.

At the media conference on Monday outside the HHS Hamilton General Hospital campus, Watt will be joined by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE) president Michael Hurley. He is the lead negotiator for CUPE’s nearly 40,000 hospital sector members whose local unions bargain centrally with the OHA.

Also popping by the Monday event is none other than The Grinch. The well-known book character is a reminder to HHS to not steal Christmas from thousands of their front-line staff and speed up getting the retroactive pay into workers’ paycheques.

WHO:       The Grinch
                    Jillian Watt, President CUPE 7800
                    Michael Hurley, President OCHU-CUPE

WHAT:     Media conference

WHERE: Hamilton General Hospital Campus of HHS – 237 Barton St. East, Hamilton

WHEN:    Monday, December 12, 2022 – 1 p.m.

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For more information, contact:

Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications
416-559-9300 | syeadon@cupe.ca